Dyer williams



(No Model.)

D. WILLIAMS.

GAR COUPLING. No. 462,915. Patented Nov. 10,1891.

mi r i 7W UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DYER IVILLIAHS, OF CEDAR RAPIDS, IOlVA, ASSIGITOR TO CARLOTTA B.

IVILLIAMS, OF SAME PLACE.

CAR-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 462,915, dated November10, 1891.

Application filed February 6, 1891. Serial No. 380,425. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known thatl, DYER WILLIAMS, a citizen of the United States,residing at Cedar Rapids, in the county of Linn and State of Iowa, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Car-Couplers; and I dohereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and

exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilledin the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

This invention relates to car-couplers of the J anney type of draw-head;and the object of the invention is to improve the construction ofcouplers of that style with more particular reference to thelocking ofthe pivoted jaw.

The invention consists in the construction, combination, and arrangmentof parts, as hereinafter fully set forth and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,Figure 1 is a horizontal section of a coupler embodying my invention.Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same. Fig. 3 is a front view of thelocking pin or bolt; and Fig.4 is a fragmentary vertical section in theline 00 00, showing a modified form of pin or bolt and from the oppositeside from that shown in Fig. 1, together with the contiguous parts.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts.

Referring to the drawings, A is a draw-head having the characteristicsof the draw-head known as the Janney--that is to say, it has the arm A,to which is pivoted the jaw B, and on the other side the guiding anddeflecting arm A.

In the construction of the draw-head, the jaw, and its locking devicecertain novel features have been devised, which I will now dcscribe.

By reference to the drawings it will be seen that the body of the drawhead is cored straight through, thus permitting free passage of the boltor other apparatus for attaching the draw-head to the car. One wallforms an integral portion of the arm A. Opposite this is another wallcorresponding in thickness practically with the sides of the body andextending well forward toward the mouth of the draw-head. Outside ofthis wall apin or bolt 0.

the arm A is cored out for lightness, the disposition of the materialbeing such as to give sufficient strength to the part. Through the topand bottom of the arm contiguous to the wall A are holes a, which arenot in the same diagonal plane, but are in parallel planes ofinclination. The upper hole at least should have a little clearance, soas to permit the pin 0 to enter. In these holes is placed so as to slidefreely in a diagonal plane This pin is of peculiar construction, beingstaggered in outline as seen from the sides, but straight as seen fromthe front or rear. The straight middle part of the pin forms a bearingfor the rear arm 13 of the pivoted arm B, as will be hereinafter moreparticularly explained. The diagonal terminal portions of the pincoincide with the diagonal holes in the draw-head and slide in the sameto lock and unlock the pin. After the pin is in position in thedraw-head it may be provided with a key 0 to prevent its beingcarelessly or wantonly displaced. The front face of the middle portionof the pin is preferably beveled, as shown, to facilitate its movementby the arm B; but this is not absolutely essential. The upper part ofthe pin connects with a suitable chain D, attached to anydesired styleof hand-lever (not shown) for uncoupling.

In the back part of the arm B is formed a notch b. The face I) of thisarm should be a cam, the upper terminus in Fig. 1 being nearer the pivotD than the portion next to the notch. In practice this notch is madewide enough to inclose the end of the wall A and the front face of thepin, the terminal portion of the arm B extending partly across thethroat of the draw-head to prevent the link (indicated in dotted lines)from being forced therein. This is a common difficulty met with in theuse of couplers of this type, the link being sometimes jammed in so asto force the lateral walls outwardly and bend or break the lockingdevice, practically ruining the draw-head and causing serious delay andexpense in the use of the car. The construction herein shown entirelyprevents accidents of this nature, since the throat of the draw-head isso far closed as to bend the link rather than permit it to enter.

In the drawings I have shown the middle portion of the pin which formsthe bearing for the arm 13 as vertical and also inclined. In practicethe inclined position shown in Fig. 4 is preferred, since, as will beevident on reflection, the movement of the arm in swinging back and theinclination of its face corresponding to that of the contiguous part ofthe pin tend naturally to lift the pin and facilitate the passage of thearm and in greater degree than does the position shown in Fig. 2. Thispin should be made of tenaceous material, as wrought-iron or steel, andparticularly if made in either form shown in the drawingsthat is to say,of the same width throughout. It is to be understood, however, that thestaggered part of the pin may be only on the front side thereof, theback side being perfectly straight, as indicated by the dotted line inFig. 2. This would increase the width of the pin at the upper endmaterially and to that extent add to its weight. As the pin acts bygravity to lock, this weight would have certain advantages; but inpractice I prefer to make the body of the pin uniform throughout, thisform being easily made and well adap ed to all purposes. It may becomparatively slender, furthermore, inasmuch as it bears against thewallA at both the top and bottom, as in Fig. 2, and may overlap the wall inthe middle portion, as indicated by the dotted lines in Fig. 4 and thefull outline in Fig. l.

It will be seen that the construction is such that the cars areuncoupled by simply lifting the pin, and by reason of the angle in whichit moves the pin may be lifted by drawing vertically on it or at anyangle between that and the horizontal backwardly. Now inthe event that adraw-head is torn loose from a car, as frequently happens, the detacheddraw-head by its own weight disengages the pin and uncouples itself fromthe draw-head attached to the other car. The inability of draw-headsincommon use to uncouple in the case of accidents of this sort is oftenthe cause of serious wrecks by reason of the detachedv draw-head hangingdown and catching in the ties or other part of the track when the othercar is backed, thus throwing it off the track.

It will be understood that the locking device would be complete if thearm B terminated at the shoulder engaging with the pin; but, as theextension into the throat of the draw-head serves a very importantpurpose, I prefer to make the arm in the form shown.

The construction is such thattwo drawheads are adapted to coupleautomatically, and the simplicity of the device renders it easy tomanufacture, strong and efficient in use, and little likely toget out oforder.

Having thus described my invention,what I claim as new, and desire-tosecure by Letters Patent, is

1. In a car-coupler, the combination, with a draw-head, substantially asdescribed, of a pivoted jaw having a shoulder on theinward arm, behindwhich the pin drops to lock said jaw, the face of the jaw contiguous tosaid shoulder and which moves the pin in looking being eccentric to thepivot or cam-shaped in the plane of the jawvs movement and beveled so asto have a greater diameter on the under side, and a locking-pinstaggered in outline, the inclination of the middle portioncorresponding to the bevel of the jaw and the parallel terminal portionsinclining in the opposite direction and adapted to slide in bearings inthe upper andlowerparts of the drawhead.

2. In a car-coupler, the combination, with a draw-head, substantially asdescribed, having the wall A' and holes a adjacent thereto in the upperand lower part of the draw-head, of

a pin of the staggered outline shown, the terminal parallel portionsliding in said holes in the draw-head and bearing laterally againstsaid Wall thereof, the middle portion serving as a lock for thecoupling-jaw and having a bearing for a portion of its width againstsaidwall, and a locking-jaw having a cam-face on its inward arm, wherebythe pin is pushed upwardly and backwardly as the jaw swings in tocouple, the said cam-face being beveled so as to be relatively larger onthe under side to facilitate the upward and backward movement of thepin.

3. In a car-coupler, the combination of the draw-head A, having the wallA" and holes a a adjacent thereto inthe upper and lower parts of the armA .the zigzag or staggered pin 0, the jaw B, having the inward arm Bextending partially across the throat of the draw-head when the jaw islocked and with a notch therein slightly wider than the wall A, and thepin forming on one side the shoulder 17 and on the other a shoulder toserve as a stop to the backward movement of the jawby striking the innerside of the wall.

4. In combination with the beveled camfaced jaw B b", theherein-described pin formed in a zigzag or staggered outline and of thesame width of material throughout its length, with a hole in the. upperend for the attachment of a lifting device, and a pin or key in thelower end to prevent displacement.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

. DYER WILLIAMS. Vitnesses:

S. W. BRAINERD, W. H. MEYERs.

